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2. Technology - web based

The whole thing is web based, no Flash, just HTML/CSS/JavaScript/AJAX/PHP. I can even play games on BGA from my Android device!

3. Live play

It's all "live" play as you described it. There is time limit that each player has. After going over that time player might be kicked out of the game. This gives him bad reputation. You can always see how often other players leave the game (frustrating) or take too much time to think about their moves. You can give someone +1 reputaion or -1 if you don't recommend playing with that person.

4. Asynchronous play

However if you like, in uncommon situations you might want to host a game without a time limit, and it's also possible (this way you can play a game for a week). So that's for asynchronous play.

5. Tables

And as for tables - the whole system is build around setting a table, players joining it, and accepting table rules. You can join table and be a spectator. You can replay game that took place at certain table and view it from player perspective of your choosing. Great feature for learning what mistakes you made and improving your skills. You can as well watch games between best players.

6. Community

You asked about active community - oh yes. BGA is being constantly translated by users to 24 languages (including in-game text, instructions and the site itself). I myself did translate a few lines to my native language and improved what already has been translated. Anyone can do it! How about if you play with someone not speaking English or your language? You got translate button next to each sentence they write in the chat - it takes their words directly to google translate!

Reputation

As i said earlier, there is a reputation system. Something you might be familiar from StackExchange. Works great, and what's important - most players are nice to each other. Want to try a new game? just ask before playing if your opponent is willing to help you get a better understanding of the game.

Feedback

Feedback from site administrators is also great. Users are reporting found bugs and they are giving suggestion how to improve gameplay or site's interface. That's what BGA Forum is for. I myself have reported bug found in Saboteur, and it got fixed not long after that. You can vote for games to be introduced to the platform. Do you know game called Haggis? You can play with Sean Ross (designer of Haggis) on BGA.

7. Ease of use

I guess you have to find out for yourself. And remember that there is a good chance the site is (at least partially) already translated to your language. And if not - you can help make it so! I found BGA extremely easy to use and very much centered on great gamimg experience. Need help? Go to the BGA Help section.

8. Authors

This is what authors say about themselves:

First, we should say that we are gamers. Real, complete boardgames addicts.

We designed Board Game Arena for players who can't play for real
because of time, geographic or social constraints. We would like to
provide a new game experience with the best of two worlds: video games
and board games.

Although we aim to provide high quality online games, we are still
convinced that the best way to enjoy board games is around a real
table with friends. This is one of the reason we strongly recommend
you to buy physical copies of the games you discover on BGA. The other
reason is simple to understand: each game sale is also a revenue for
an author and an editor (... we've come full circle).

Ticket to Ride can be played at the Days of Wonder site, and is a very authentic play experience. Unfortunately, you can only play a few trial games before they expect you to fork over some cash to carry on, but it's a pretty nominal fee and if you really liked Ticket to Ride I'm sure it'd be worth it. Anyway, the first few games do cost nothing, so I think this is a valid answer to your question!

I know people will recommend the play-agricola site and the like, but I personally find having to manually manage all your tokens, and other fiddly aspects of the turn, removes much of the joy from the experience. I think I would happily pay a small subscription fee for a really good implementation of Agricola (my favourite boardgame!) online that removes the spadework. If you'll forgive that farming-related pun...

If you are looking to play Risk, Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, or a variety of other games online, check out GamesByEmail.com. It's a pretty simple, easy to use site. Also, the guy who runs the site, Scott Nesin, happily let's others create/enhance games using the JavaScript library he created. If you are a programmer you can create your own games (or enhance existing ones) and get them up on the site! See the Developers Page for more details.

The games are all JavaScript-based so there's no program you have to download or Java applet you have to run and you can create games by inviting certain players or by playing against other random users.

Ok, that site is insanely cool! Not just the games, but the development tools. I've been dragging my feet on learning JavaScript - I looked at it in 1999 and said, OK...why? Obviously, I'm behind the curve! But this looks like a great opportunity and motivation to step up!
– gomadDec 1 '10 at 16:37

@gomad: The site owner/creator, Scott Nesin, is also very nice and easy to talk to and is a valuable resource as you start developing. I added some features to the WWII game on the site (which is an Axis and Allies clone) and Scott was very attentive and patient with my learning and bugs! :-)
– Scott MitchellDec 1 '10 at 23:03

Thanks. I take it that site supports only a single game? I've never played Robo Rally, and I'm not really interested in single-game solutions.
– gomadNov 30 '10 at 23:11

It supports three different games, all based around similar Robo Rally mechanics, but with different goals & strategies. Still, it does not sound like what you are looking for.
– GundabadDec 1 '10 at 3:24

It is slightly different to most of the others, because it allows you to play turn by turn, and will notify you via email when it is your go. Therefore, you do not all need to be in session to play. I have played a game over a week before now.
If you are all online however, you can play it in a few hours.

A third option along the lines of Vassal and Cyberboard is ZunTzu, and a fourth is Battlegrounds. Games available for the first three highly favor wargames, though there are certainly decent eurogames on the lists. Battlegrounds, cautious about getting in trouble for copyright violation due to scans of game parts, doesn't have a list of games but there are quite a few out there, Google being your pal.

I've only played actual games through Vassal, and found the interface to be clunky, but we were certainly able to play.

I've tried to create new games in the Vassal, Cyberboard, and ZunTzu systems and, despite being a programmer, gamer, and generally smart dude, found them to be some combination of impenetrable and too limited.

Mind you, plenty of people enjoy them, and there's not reason to think you won't, but they didn't turn out to be what I was hoping for.

Your description, "...some combination of impenetrable and too limited" is exactly the impression I was getting from VASSAL and BSW. Thanks for the new contenders! So - does that mean that Battlegrounds gets your approval? Or is it just another failed contender?
– gomadDec 2 '10 at 17:28

Online Go Servers:
A much more detailed list is available, but here is a brief overview of 3 popular Go servers with good English support.

KGS, very popular, has players from all over the world, accessible on computers (anything with Java) or through an Android app (iOS not available nor likely to be anytime soon).

Internet Go Server (IGS), very popular, lots of clients for all sorts of OS-es, including iOS and Android. Best for English or Japanese.

Dragon Go Server (DGS), popular turn-based server. Lots of languages and clients supported (including iOS and Android). Games are timed, but usually start with several months on the clock for each player.

Playtou.com is a portal that hosts tournaments (both paid for financial prizes and free). You can play chess, checkers, gomoku, reversi (othello) and roshambo there. You have to register in order to play but the registration is free. There is no client software you need only web browser. You play in a real time. The site also has a rank system.

Supports Chess and Chess960, including live (OTB), correspondence (turn-based over time, permits up to 10 days per turn, determined pre-game), vote-based and tournament play. You can play rated or unrated with the worlds biggest online chess community.

It's web based and also offers apps for iOS and Android. It's incredibly easy to use and features written and video tutorials, tactics puzzles and Q&A discussions.

I've been trying out Anywhere Board game (http://anywhereboardgames.com) on Google Hangout. It's game agnostic, you can add game pieces via image URLs. It supports things like deck shuffling and player hand shielding. It also have a server hosting feature and game save on independent of Hangout but I haven't tried that yet.

A very similar concept is Tabletop Simulator (http://www.berserk-games.com/ts/), which is still in development but can be purchased early release on Steam. I haven't tried it, but various Youtube videos of people flipping the table have been entertaining.

Happy Meeple is the only beginner-friendly platform targeting players who don't necessarily know anything about modern games. It has great 2-player quick-playing gateway games. If you want your friends to get into the board game hobby, this is where you should send them.

Games

Lost Cities

Finito

Migrato

Level X

Siberia Card

Keltis Card

Keltis Ór

Operating system

Browser-based (=works everywhere).

Play mode

Real-time

Ease of use

Very easy. The whole platform is intended for a casual audience. All games come with a tutorial in 5 languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Turkish).

The interface is simple, uncluttered. Starting to play is 2 clicks away.